ABUJA: Popular social media critic and activist, Martins Vincent Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), on Monday staged a peaceful protest in front of the residence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in Abuja.
The protest came as a direct response to Wike’s recent announcement to withhold 10 percent of statutory allocations meant for area councils. The minister cited the failure of the councils to implement the new national minimum wage for primary school teachers as the reason for the cut.
This funding issue has led to an ongoing strike by teachers in public primary schools across the FCT, leaving many schoolchildren out of class.
VDM, known for his outspoken stance on social and political issues, brought a group of children to Wike’s residence, where he conducted an open-air classroom session.
The children, dressed in their school uniforms, sat on the bare ground while VDM taught them basic letters of the alphabet in a symbolic protest.
VDM PROTEST WITH PUPILS IN FCT
S for Suegbe, T for Tinubu, W for Wike, VDM chanted, as the children repeated after him in unison. The message, though light-hearted on the surface, was aimed at drawing attention to the government’s failure to meet the educational needs of young Nigerians.
Speaking during the protest, VDM declared that the front gate of Wike’s residence would serve as a temporary classroom until the demands of the striking teachers were addressed and the children could return to school.
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He criticized the government for prioritizing politics over education and accused the FCT administration of neglecting the welfare of primary school pupils.
The protest attracted attention on social media, with many Nigerians expressing solidarity with the activist’s call for justice.
The incident underscores growing public frustration with the handling of education funding and the implementation of workers’ rights in the country. As of press time, there had been no official response from Wike or the FCT administration regarding the protest.
